With Windows 7 released and currently making its way to shelves in time for the holiday season, we've taken this opportunity to upgrade our copy of the official Windows System Recovery Discs for compatibility with Windows 7.

If you're like most PC users, you probably got Windows 7 with a new PC or laptop. And if you're like 99% of the population, you get your new machines from one of the major manufacturers. Dell, Acer, HP, Toshiba, Lenovo; who all have one thing in common: they don't give you a real Windows 7 installation disc with your purchase. Instead, they bundle what they call a "recovery disc" (that's if you're lucky - otherwise you'll have a recovery partition instead) with your machine and leave it at that.

What it does: The Windows 7 Recovery Disc can be used to access a system recovery menu, giving you options of using System Restore, Complete PC Backup, automated system repair, and a command-line prompt for manual advanced recovery.

What it doesn't do: You cannot use the Windows 7 Recovery Disc to re-install Windows - it only fixes (not replaces!) Windows.

Why you need it: If you bought your PC from a major retailer, you didn't get this CD with your hefty purchase.

1. Unrar
2. Burn the .iso file to a CD using these instructions.( use UltraISO...)
3. When you want to use the recovery center, put the CD in your drive and boot from it. This is usually done by pressing F8 at startup, or changing the boot drive order in the BIOS